While some people may define literacy in strict terms as proficiency in reading comprehension, there’s often much more to it than that. To be literate opens the door to parse information, think and act with credulity, and make inferences using written text.
According to several metrics, the country’s overall ability to do that may be in decline.
- Adult Literacy Levels by State
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- Literacy Rates May Be in Decline
- Improving Literacy Rates
Adult Literacy Levels by State
Recently, data hub USAFacts evaluated information compiled by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, or PIAAC, a survey that looks to measure adult literacy. A total of 4574 respondents aged 16 to 65 completed a series of tasks and received a score ranging from 0 (functionally illiterate) to 500 (formulate cogent arguments, understand high-level material, discern good sources from poor).
According to PIAAC, the national average is 263.5, or roughly 40 points above where PIAAC would deem a respondent to have low literacy levels.
Here’s how each state performed in the PIAAC survey using data compiled from 2012 to 2017.
New Hampshire comes in first, with a score of 278.9, edging out Minnesota’s 278.8. Alaska, Washington, D.C.; and Vermont round out the top five. The scores are enough to breach PIAAC’s level three (of five possible levels) in their scoring assessment. At this level, “Respondents can evaluate information at varying levels of inference, determine meaning from larger selections of text, and disregard information that’s irrelevant to the prompt.”
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The lowest scores? New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi all come in at roughly 251, or level two, where respondents “can paraphrase or make low-level inferences.”
Proficiency Level | Abilities |
|---|---|
Below Level 1 (0-175) | Respondents are considered functionally illiterate, or unable to determine the meaning of sentences |
Level 1 (176-225) | Respondents are considered to have low literacy levels. They can identify basic vocabulary words and can determine meaning within sentences and paragraphs |
Level 2 (226-275) | Respondents can paraphrase or make low-level inferences |
Level 3 (276-325) | Respondents can evaluate information at varying levels of inference, determine meaning from larger selections of text, and disregard information that’s irrelevant to the prompt |
Level 4 (326-375) | Respondents are more likely to use background knowledge to complete tasks, apply non-central or conditional information to evaluations, and discern correct information from competing information |
Level 5 (376-500) | Respondents can evaluate arguments, process dense texts, apply logical reasoning to draw conclusions, and determine whether certain sources are valid sources of information |
Literacy Rates May Be in Decline
Alarmingly, a 2023 PIAAC follow-up to the data accrued in the map found that the number of adults with low literacy skills actually increased by 9 percent, going from 19 percent of respondents to 28 percent. The number with average literacy went from 33 percent to 29 percent, while those deemed to have high literacy dropped from 50 percent to 44 percent.
PIAAC also found declines in numeracy (understanding numbers), which declined from an average score of 255 in 2017 to 249 in 2023. Problem solving, new in 2023, found 32 percent of survey participants at level one.
So what exactly was PIAAC tasking respondents with doing? One sample question provided by the group represents the varying difficulty levels by offering an explanation of why bread and crackers get stale and then posing a question measuring reading comprehension.
Question | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|
At what moisture level do crackers become soft? | Low |
Is each statement true for bread, crackers, or both? (Should be wrapped to stay fresh; fresher when soft; affected by exposure to the air) | Moderate to High |
Put the three storage methods in order based on how likely they are to keep bread fresh (store at room temperature; store in the refrigerator; store in the freezer) | Moderate to High |
Improving Literacy Rates
What can we do with this data? Ideally, it would inform adult education programs that would seek to increase skills with demonstrable effects on quality of life. “People who have literacy and numeracy skills at lower levels often must develop alternative strategies for obtaining and acting on the information they need,” Jeff Fantine, executive director of the National Coalition for Literacy, told ProLiteracy. “When they take advantage of adult education to improve their skills, their self-efficacy increases because they are able to handle such tasks independently. But often these adults are not aware of educational opportunities that are available to them, so we must increase awareness of, expand access to, and build capacity for adult education.”
Is there any correlation between PIAAC’s assessments and a ranking of the states based on their education programs? Not quite. A U.S. News and World Report ranking put New Jersey, Florida, Colorado, Utah, and Massachusetts in the top five.
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